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Old 12-06-2016, 03:35 PM   #1
MLM
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2017 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Atlanta , Georgia
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First freezing cold nights, how to prep

We are new Interstate owners and currently live in GA. We will experience our first freezing temps this week...it will drop into the 20's for three nights and then warm back up. We are headed to Florida next week, so we don't want to winterize, but what else can we do to make sure we don't end up messing up some pipes? I have been researching, but just can't come up with the right solution. We will have it under a covered roof, but not garaged. I appreciate any tips! Thanks!
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Old 12-06-2016, 04:04 PM   #2
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Leave the cupboards with pipes inside open and keep an electric heater on with a thermostat set at 50 degrees.
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Old 12-06-2016, 04:22 PM   #3
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Will you be on shore power, and able to leave the interior heat on low?

Any chance of running an electric heater under the vehicle with fan blowing? The ground mass is very warm, so even a small amount of heat and air movement should do the trick IMO, especially if you can block off between the parking pad and the vehicle on the upwind side of things (if any).

Even if you can't winterize fully right now, how about opening all the low point drains (with faucets, shower, etc. all open), and letting gravity do its work for now? If the exposed pipes are relatively empty of water, the chance of bursting them under the conditions you describe is low IMO.

Good luck!

Peter


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We are new Interstate owners and currently live in GA. We will experience our first freezing temps this week...it will drop into the 20's for three nights and then warm back up. We are headed to Florida next week, so we don't want to winterize, but what else can we do to make sure we don't end up messing up some pipes? I have been researching, but just can't come up with the right solution. We will have it under a covered roof, but not garaged. I appreciate any tips! Thanks!
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Old 12-06-2016, 05:57 PM   #4
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Your Interstate needs to be heated, period, to keep it from freezing.

Running your furnace or a reliable space heater is the only way to do it.

There is nothing magical to keep from freezing, just the logical answer...heat.


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Old 12-06-2016, 08:01 PM   #5
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If you don't winterize the black and grey drain lines and the macerator w/ RV antifreeze, you'll be most likely buying a new macerator pump.
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Old 12-07-2016, 11:35 AM   #6
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Lots of advice on the internet and youtube, here is a link to one:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...Uvl8rfkq3c2XSA
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Old 12-08-2016, 02:43 PM   #7
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Thanks everyone!
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Old 12-08-2016, 10:02 PM   #8
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Even if you keep it warm Inside, a gallon of RV antifreeze in the black and grey water tanks would be cheap insurance.

No need to 'unwinterize' just start using it afterward.
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Old 12-10-2016, 04:21 AM   #9
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RV antifreeze?

Is that any different than regular antifreeze? Where do you get it?
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Old 12-10-2016, 04:39 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Ridgejockey View Post
Is that any different than regular antifreeze? Where do you get it?

I would imagine with an interstate you use both types - the regular yellow stuff for your engine (or whatever is recommended in your owner's manual) and then the nontoxic pink kind for your water lines/plumbing in freezing temps. You can get it at Walmart, RV dealers and online.
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Old 12-10-2016, 04:44 AM   #11
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You can buy RV antifreeze at WalMart, pink, in gallon jugs.

I have never heard of one having the engine treated, and we have never treated ours.

Be sure to pull your owners manual out, and read this section thoroughly. It will tell you exactly what to do.


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Old 12-10-2016, 04:57 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Lily&Me View Post
You can buy RV antifreeze at WalMart, pink, in gallon jugs.

I have never heard of one having the engine treated, and we have never treated ours.

Be sure to pull your owners manual out, and read this section thoroughly. It will tell you exactly what to do.


Maggie

Hi Maggie - my prior post wasn't very clear. I meant there's a distinction between the antifreeze used 365 days a year in your engine for normal operations and then the pink stuff exclusively for winterizing internal plumbing.
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Old 12-10-2016, 05:10 AM   #13
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For instance:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-30611-R...rv+antifreeeze



Quote:
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Is that any different than regular antifreeze? Where do you get it?
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Old 12-10-2016, 05:14 AM   #14
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No offense taken or intended.

My point was that I don't think there are winterizing steps we take for our engines, as we do our plumbing....other than, for me, being sure the last fillup before storage is the diesel blend for cold weather.

Don't ask me to explain this, because I don't understand it , I just remember heading south once in January with a tank filled too early, and we were very sluggish driving until the fuel warmed up.

Doug kept a bottle of DEF, I think, to add to our fuel tank if we had to make an emergency run back home from warmer temps.


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Old 12-10-2016, 06:02 AM   #15
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Offense-free zone 😀

Yes - we're saying the same thing about two different types of antifreeze.

As for DEF - in my Chevy, it goes in its own tank, never the fuel tank. I don't have an Interstate so I don't know if that works differently.

Happy camping!
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Old 12-10-2016, 06:51 AM   #16
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Before I put my Interstate in storage a month or so ago, I poured into it the last bottle of DEF Doug had bought before he died , then filled the tank....as this is how he did it.

I have an older model, of course, the newer ones are different....that's why one must read their owners manual.

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Old 12-10-2016, 11:04 AM   #17
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FYI I was pleasantly surprised to find pink RV antifreeze at home depot! Wal-Mart is too far away for us and Amazon pricing far higher. I think I paid $4.95 for each gallon jug.
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Old 12-10-2016, 12:12 PM   #18
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NO NO NO DEF has nothing to do with either antifreeze (the original subject of this post) or with cold weather diesel fuel. I would be very hesitant to add any cold weather stuff to the fuel. Buying winter diesel fuel should be good enough. Though most of us don't use the AI in the cold weather where even that is needed. DEF is added to a different tank in the newer Sprinters that use SCR to reduce NOx. IT freezes at 11 deg F and there is a heater in the DEF system to thaw it. You will not see any different performance with the DEF being frozen or not.
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Old 12-10-2016, 01:43 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Titus View Post
NO NO NO DEF has nothing to do with either antifreeze (the original subject of this post) or with cold weather diesel fuel. I would be very hesitant to add any cold weather stuff to the fuel. Buying winter diesel fuel should be good enough. Though most of us don't use the AI in the cold weather where even that is needed. DEF is added to a different tank in the newer Sprinters that use SCR to reduce NOx. IT freezes at 11 deg F and there is a heater in the DEF system to thaw it. You will not see any different performance with the DEF being frozen or not.
She might not have meant DEF. It was probably a diesel fuel winter additive that her husband, Doug, once used. I've used a Power Service diesel fuel supplement in the past when I drove from Maryland to Minnesota in February. It was -15degF every night in Minnesota. No ill effects.
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Old 12-10-2016, 02:22 PM   #20
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It was an additive, I thought DEF but I know nothing of such things.

If your vehicle goes into storage before winter fuel is available, if you haven't added this whatever-it-is, your fuel gels a bit and makes your engine struggle.

Or, if you have to drive into frigid temps with warm weather diesel fuel....which is why he kept it on hand.


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